West Virginia Basketball G Joe Toussaint Isn’t Here to Point Fingers

Joe Toussaint is just nine games into his tenure at West Virginia and has already fit right in. Toussaint, a guard from New York, isn’t here to point fingers at teammates when something goes wrong. In fact, he’ll actually take the blame.

“I always take the blame and I’ll take whatever comes with it. That’s just who I am,” Toussaint said. “I feel like it’s way too early to start pointing fingers at each other. I tell people if you want to point fingers just point them at me.”

That’s just who Toussaint is. As a kid, he would always take the blame when it came to dealing with his siblings. Young Joe even took the blame when a sibling lied to their mother.

So far West Virginia has dropped two games to Purdue and Xavier over the past two weeks. As this new group of Mountaineers are getting comfortable playing with each other, Toussaint has emerged as one of the most valuable players on the team so far.

Toussaint is averaging 11.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 23.3 minutes through nine games. During his three years at Iowa, Toussaint was in a completely different system but has adjusted to WVU very quickly.

“I’ve been comfortable since the first game. As the season goes on I just feel the confidence from my teammates and coaching staff,” Toussaint said. “I feel like I’m definitely comfortable now.”

West Virginia’s coaching staff made Toussaint a priority to acquire in the offseason through the transfer portal. Toussaint posted a 2.32 assist-to-turnover ratio, which the staff really liked. WVU head coach Bob Huggins admitted that he’s gotten more out of Toussaint than he expected.

“Joe has been pretty consistent,” Huggins said. “Honestly when we got him from Iowa, I didn’t think he would shoot it that consistently. I thought he would get it to the rim and defensively he’s really good.”

Toussaint is shooting 42 percent from the field and 33 percent from three, which is on pace for a career-high early on.

Toussaint is currently playing a sixth-man role while receiving minutes at the end of games. Toussaint’s speed allows him to get into the paint and either score or find an open teammate.

Last season, it seemed many pointed fingers in every direction. With a new group this year, point at Toussaint to blame. He’s able to take it.